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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29134767">Nightfall</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatsherquirk/pseuds/whatsherquirk'>whatsherquirk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Breeding, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Forbidden Love, Light Angst, Missionary Position, Nipple Play, Star-crossed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:07:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29134767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatsherquirk/pseuds/whatsherquirk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Time remains to make the necessary arrangements,” the queen replied. “But soon, Daichi will have his queen.”</p><p>The words hit you in the chest like a series of daggers, one after another, piercing the same spot in your heart over and over. For Daichi was the prince of the kingdom of Karasuno, the sole heir to the throne. If he did not marry and ascend the throne, dominion would be handed over to prince Kuroo of Nekoma, and the Sawamuras would no longer rule over this land. Though you had no lust for power, at night, you dreamed of spending your life at Daichi’s side as his queen.</p><p>But you were nothing more than a kitchen servant, a handmaiden of the castle, a nobody in the eyes of the royal family. There was no way you would ever be anything more, except in secret.<br/>--<br/>When sneaking kisses around the castle becomes too risky for you and prince Daichi, you turn to a magic spell to create a place all your own. But the illusion can only last so long, right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sawamura Daichi/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nightfall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted on my tumblr @whats-her-quirk as part of the Smut Pile Server fantasy collab.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the shadow of an ancient tree, as the last traces of sunlight finally fell below the horizon, you watched as the fae appeared, dancing across the forest floor and the foliage, glimmering lights of green and purple and yellow trailing behind them. The tiny creatures illuminated the landscape as you leaned back against your lover’s chest, letting your head fall onto his broad shoulder as you looked up toward the sky. His hand, warm and trembling, brushed down the side of your neck and shoulder, pushing the sleeve of your dress away so that he could kiss the bare skin he found there.</p><p>You sat between his legs, the plush velvet of his robes soft against your back, and you sighed as one of the fluttering lights bounced off a flower just a short distance away. You reached back, placing a delicate hand over Daichi’s on your shoulder, and sighed. “I wish this could last forever.”</p><p>You felt his exhale against your ear. “So do I, princess,” he whispered before pulling your hand to his lips for a chaste kiss.</p><p>But alas, your time was running short. Sunrise was approaching, and if you weren’t back soon, you’d surely be missed. Daichi’s fingertips grazed the tiny flower buds he’d woven into your hair, placed just so to adorn you like a forest spirit so the fae would not get jealous of a mortal with such beauty and attempt to steal you away. But as the minutes dragged on, though all you wanted was to stay cradled in his arms, you knew it was time to leave the clearing and head for home.</p><p>Daichi helped you to your feet and took up the lantern, holding it high in front of him to light your way through the trees, all the while, holding your hand tightly in his. As you passed through the forest, the glow of the fae faded away behind you, the only light dangling from your lover’s fist. It was only a short walk before you came to the door.</p><p>As if it had sprouted from the ground, the great cathedral door, wood and iron with a pointed arch over the top, stood on the other side of the tree line. There was no wall behind it, nor any gate or fortress. The massive door stood alone, but you knew what you’d find on the other side of it when Daichi lifted the iron handle and pulled it open.</p><p>As you stepped through to the other side, the sounds of the forest faded, instead replaced with the eerie silence of the castle’s stone walls and floor. Your footsteps, though quiet, sounded thunderous in the dark; all the more reason to tread lightly. You reached for the small pendant hanging on a chain around your neck and tucked it safely away under the collar of your dress. And now, the part you dreaded the most.</p><p>You pulled a candle from your pocket as Daichi held out the lantern, its flame licking at the wax until your wick caught flame. You held the tiny source of light close to your chest, shielding the flame with your hand. If it went out, you’d have a terrible time trying to get back to your quarters on the far side of the castle. Daichi wrapped his arm around you, his hand slotting in at the base of your spine, pulling you close for a languid kiss, slow and silent, neither of you wanting to let go. A breath passed as he finally broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against yours for only a moment, knuckles brushing your cheek. You exchanged no words, but you felt it, his love and passion that you returned tenfold under the cover of night.</p><p>Finally, Daichi turned over his shoulder and walked carefully down the long hallway. You dared to stay long enough to watch his lantern light disappear around the corner before turning the opposite way and hurrying off to bed, your heart full but aching.</p><p>∘₊✧──────✧₊∘</p><p>You met again at dinner. Daichi sat in his place next to his father at the head of the long mahogany table, posture perfect, wearing a white tunic that was impossibly clean and unwrinkled. A fire flickered under the hearth behind them, but it wasn’t the only reason you felt heat as you walked behind Daichi’s chair. You set the woven basket of fresh bread on the table beside him then stepped back, finding a place to stand against the wall of the great hall.</p><p>The dining party was relatively small that night. The king and queen were hosting few guests at the time, and only a handful of high-ranking nobility and staff were seated at the table. You couldn’t help but stare at the back of Daichi’s head as the royals began to eat, knowing he was biting into the bread you’d spent most of the day baking and thinking only of you.</p><p>The other royals talked about him as if he weren’t there, speaking of thrones and succession. “The time is nearing for Prince Daichi to take his place as king,” the royal advisor said, “and yet, he has not taken a wife.”</p><p>“Time remains to make the necessary arrangements,” the queen replied. “But soon, Daichi will have his queen.”</p><p>The words hit you in the chest like a series of daggers, one after another, piercing the same spot in your heart over and over. For Daichi was the prince of the kingdom of Karasuno, the sole heir to the throne. If he did not marry and ascend the throne, dominion would be handed over to prince Kuroo of Nekoma, and the Sawamuras would no longer rule over this land. Though you had no lust for power, at night, you dreamed of spending your life at Daichi’s side as his queen.</p><p>But you were nothing more than a kitchen servant, a handmaiden of the castle, a nobody in the eyes of the royal family. There was no way you would ever be anything more, except in secret.</p><p>∘₊✧──────✧₊∘</p><p>Only one person knew about you and the prince, and he was the reason you were able to meet under the light of the moon. The two of you could only go so long sneaking around the castle, hiding together in the halls or stealing kisses in the kitchen when someone else could walk in at any moment. Daichi knew that if the two of you were caught together, you’d be banished from the castle, out of a job and worse, beyond his reach forever. You needed a secret place just for the two of you, safe from suspicious eyes.</p><p>The surprise wasn’t that you fell for Daichi. Practically anyone would be mad not to pine after both his handsome features and his kind, generous demeanor. The surprise, in your mind, was that he somehow fell in love with you, a lowly handmaiden of the castle, who baked his bread and served his meals for meager pay to support yourself, as you had no family and no prospects to depend on. But every roll of fresh baked bread you let him sneak off with before dinner, every lingering glance as you refilled his goblet, every brush of the hand as you cleared the dishes from in front of him—all of the actions began to add up into something more, blossoming quickly into a passionate yet forbidden love.</p><p>Though the castle was expansive, with many places to hide, you found it difficult to excuse yourself from your work during the day. It was Daichi’s mission to find you, stealing kisses in the pantry and holding hands on your way from one room to another, but there wasn’t time to do much more before someone stumbled upon you. If you wanted to see each other, it would have to be at night, when most of the residents of the castle were asleep. Still, the night watch guards were eagle-eyed and ever-present, a threat to your love should you ever be caught together. </p><p>Daichi, of course, would be fine; swatted on the hand perhaps for roguish behavior by those above him in rank. However, you would almost surely be banished from the castle for ‘tempting’ him. The best way to keep you close was to meet only in secret, and to do that, you needed a better place to hide away, where no one could find you.</p><p>After considering long and hard, it was settled. Daichi would pay a visit to Sugawara the wizard, a dear friend from his boyhood days, and ask for a favor. The two had remained close, and if Daichi trusted him with your secret, so did you.</p><p>Sugawara, born to servants, much like you, had once spent the days by Daichi’s side, the two of them the only children on castle grounds at the time. However, once Sugawara’s magical powers began to manifest, his hair changing from sandy brown to a glowing silver that marked him a wizard, he was banished from the castle, the king and queen fearing any accident his spellcasting might cause. Daichi was heartbroken, but once he was old enough, he left the castle regularly to visit his friend’s cottage in the woods just outside the border of the kingdom.</p><p>Daichi gave the only excuse he thought his father would accept—that he was going to visit the court of the neighboring kingdom of Fukurodani in search of a wife. With his true intentions concealed, he galloped off on his horse for the day-long journey to Sugawara’s home.</p><p>Sugawara was glad to see his old friend until he heard the nature of Daichi’s visit. He listened attentively as Daichi recounted the situation, losing himself on tangents every now and again as he described you, his forbidden love. Sugawara would have been a fool not to see that Daichi was undoubtedly in love and desperate for help. He set a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You were never one to look down on those of us who are far below you in rank, dear Daichi. You’ve always been a true friend to me, and if I can aid in your happiness and your lady’s, then of course I can offer a spell.”</p><p>“What can you do?”</p><p>Sugawara grabbed a heavy book and a small metal box from a table and tucked them into a satchel. “If you can smuggle me inside the castle, I have an enchantment that can create a safe refuge for you and your love.”</p><p>Sugawara explained the workings of the enchantment on the journey back to the castle, and by nightfall, Daichi understood as best he could. Covering his silver head in a dark hooded cloak, Sugawara followed Daichi along a rarely-used corridor that led from the servants’ chambers to the main castle. He roused you delicately from sleep on the way, rapping his fingers on your bedroom door in a coded pattern the two of you had developed. Thankfully, you were still half-awake, sleep evading you as you worried what news Daichi would return with. You emerged from your quarters and greeted Sugawara with a kind nod, calmed by his cheerful smile, despite the tension of the circumstances.</p><p>Daichi led the both of you to a long, dim corridor, almost exactly halfway between his bedroom and yours. He stopped in front of a wooden cathedral door with a heavy, wrought iron handle and lock. This, he decided, based on Sugawara’s instructions, would be the best place for the two of you to meet. Behind it was simply an unused room, full of old furniture and artwork.</p><p>First, Sugawara pulled the metal box out of his bag. He opened it, revealing an odd assortment of rings and jewels, most of them old and tattered, and collected from where, you’d never know. From the box, he selected a pendant with a dark red, rectangular stone on a silver chain. He held it aloft for the both of you to see. “Whoever wears the pendant will be the one who can open the door, and who determines what lies inside,” he explained in a whisper. “Who will be the one to keep it?”</p><p>Daichi took your hands in his. “Will you?” If it would please Daichi, you would do anything.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Sugawara fastened the pendant around your neck before pulling out his book of spells and handing it to Daichi to hold open. He touched delicate fingertips to the pendant that hung against your collarbone, his other hand coming to rest on the massive wooden door. With the little light filtering in through the windows from the sliver of moon hanging high in the sky, Sugawara began to chant in a tongue you’d never heard before, reciting the spell he read from the page. You felt a quick surge of heat that made you gasp, and in moments, it was over.</p><p>Sugawara closed the book and tucked it away quickly. He reached for your hand and kissed it gallantly, a sign of respect that left you more breathless than the spell itself. He studied you carefully, a smile on his lips. He gave his final instructions. “The one who wears the pendant needs only think of what they’d like to find behind the door—a room, a country, anywhere—and when they turn the handle, that is the place they will find inside. Only the wearer of the pendant and those that take her hand may enter; all others will find it locked and impossible to break down. But bear in mind, the pendant creates only illusion. Nothing you find beyond this door is real, except for the two of you. But you will be safe here.”</p><p>You squeezed Sugawara’s hand, a tear rolling down your cheek. “Thank you.”</p><p>“Anything for friends.”</p><p>Just before he whisked Sugawara away, Daichi leaned down to kiss your lips with a promise. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow night.”</p><p>And so he did, not only the next night, but many, many more nights to come.</p><p>∘₊✧──────✧₊∘</p><p>Months passed this way, your rendezvous with Daichi becoming more and more frequent. With this secret hideaway you shared, it was easier to spend time together, to crave each other’s presence in a place where no one could separate you. Each time you met, Daichi held your hand in his as you pictured the location you chose to visit on the inside. The fae’s wood was one of your favorites, a product of old stories your mother used to tell you, but it wasn’t the only illusion you shared there. Some days it was a warm cabin, or a hut near the shore, or merely a room with a roaring fireplace. Never did Daichi make a request, even when you asked him to. It was his gift to you, he said.</p><p>His fingers reached instinctively for yours as you joined him in the stone corridor, blowing out the candle that lit your way. “Where to tonight, my love?” he asked, a dreamy tone in his voice that lit a small fire in some deep fragment of your soul. You wrapped your fingers around the pendant, concealed under your collar during the day, and sighed. You knew exactly where you wanted to go tonight. Holding the thought in your mind, you reached for the handle and turned it, the fantasy materializing in front of your eyes.</p><p>You found yourself in an unfamiliar room with a comfortable air about it. The walls and carpets were draped stark blacks and rich reds and deep green floral patterns that warmed the atmosphere before you. Heavy wooden furniture was arranged just so, dark mahogany woods twisting in ornate patterns that looked like the roots of trees that had grown out of the floor. Candles burned on the dressing table and a mirrored vanity, tossing shadows across the room, leading your eyes to a grand four-poster bed covered in a deep red canopy, heavy velvet billowing as if it were as light as silk.</p><p>“But this is—” Daichi breathed.</p><p>“Your bedroom. I wanted to see it.” No handmaidens were permitted into the prince’s bedroom, the consequences dire if you were to be found there. Only male servants were allowed to assist Daichi within his private bedchambers. The rule was the decree of the king and queen, and in regard to your safety, Daichi dared not sneak you inside. It was too risky, especially when you had your enchanted hideaway.</p><p>With the door safely closed behind you, you led Daichi to his bed—the illusion of his bed—and sat beside him on the plush bedding. Daichi dropped down beside you, running his hands over the designs on the blanket, an exact replica of the one he slept under every night. Everything in the room was exactly as it would be if he returned to his chamber at this exact moment. Though it was almost uncanny to be sitting there, he felt a fluttering in his chest as he gazed upon you, your form against the backdrop of his most private space within the castle.</p><p>You, on the other hand, could hardly stop from observing the room, curious as to every detail of Daichi’s forbidden fortress, even if this was only a false vision of the real thing. It was as close as you might ever come, and you decided to make it count. An urgency washed over you, the intimacy of peering into Daichi’s bedroom overcoming your senses with a haze of lust. You reached out to his face, suddenly desperate to touch him, to feel his body, to be near him in the most carnal sense of the word.</p><p>“Daichi.” You breathed his name before he took you in his arms and pulled you close, your lips crashing into his as instincts began to overcome him as well. This was where you belonged, in his arms, in his bed. For a moment, he forgot it was merely a figment of imagination, a ruse created by a magic spell. He felt as if the two of you were the only people on Earth, left to your own devices as he fell back against the pillows, pulling you down with him as his lips caressed your own with both softness and hunger.</p><p>You opened up to him, letting your jaw fall open as he forced his tongue into your heated mouth, breathy moans and gasps escaping the both of you as your body rolled against his. His hands roamed down your back and around to your hips as you clung to his neck, both gripping the other as if you would never let go. Clumsily, Daichi’s fingers fumbled with the laces down the sides of your dress, messy in their desperation to remove the layers of cloth separating his body from yours.</p><p>“Please, my love,” he whispered, hitching your breath in your throat as you realized he wanted you as passionately as you wanted him. You rose to your knees and began untying the various fastenings of your dress until it fell loosely around your shoulders. His pupils widening, Daichi sat up to help pull the thick fabric over your head, leaving you in only your white underclothes, an image he held in his mind during lonely nights in this very room, when the two of you could not be together for one reason or another.</p><p>He marveled at your body like it was the first time he was seeing it, though this was far from the truth. The glow of your skin in the candlelight left him breathless, the curves of your jaw, your neck, your nearly exposed breasts, and your thighs almost too much for him to handle. His hands traced the line of your shoulder, down your arms to your wrists, where he took hold and pulled your hands up to his lips, kissing the tips of your fingers as his dark lashes fluttered closed, drinking you in with his lips instead of his eyes.</p><p>Clothing was discarded piece by piece, flung into a pile somewhere on the floor until the both of you were bare, chests heaving for breath as he kissed you incessantly, longing for your taste on his tongue. You dragged your fingernails over Daichi’s broad shoulders and well-defined chest as he kissed your neck, his pointed canines digging into the soft flesh he found there. His hands wandered your hips and thighs, indecisive fingertips squeezing the divine curves of your legs and the globes of your ass until he couldn’t fight the instincts in his head any longer.</p><p>Hooking his strong hands under your knees, Daichi flipped you over on the bed, claiming a position on top of you where he had better access to your body. Thick erection pressed tightly against his stomach, he leaned forward and captured one of your breasts in his mouth, sucking the tender flesh of its underside as his hand cupped the other side of your chest. With nothing to dampen your moans, you cried out in pleasure as his lips moved to cover the hard bud of your nipple, his teeth digging in just enough to bring you to a place of dizziness.</p><p>“My love, my princess,” he moaned between wet kisses, lips pressed against your skin with a shudder. He sucked harder still as his dominant hand pinched your opposite nipple and massaged the mound underneath it in vicious circles. You writhed under him, calling out his name as he ravaged your chest. Your fingers burrowed into his short hair, your body scrambling for anything to hold on to as if you would float up to heaven without an anchor. Your ankles came to lock around his lower back, heels pressing into his spine as he nipped at your most sensitive areas, the ones he had come to know so well.</p><p>Just as your neck was starting to feel unbearably hot from the pleasure, beads of sweat rolling down both your forehead and Daichi’s back, he finally released your breast with a pop of his lips, gasping as he came up for air. He leaned back on his thighs, sitting upright to survey the constellations of love bites and fingertip bruises he’d left across your chest, carefully kept below where the neckline of your dress would cover the next day. As both of you caught your breath, he stared down at the pendant that gave you this power, which rested perfectly between your breasts, glinting as it caught the light from the nearest candle. It sent Daichi’s head spinning as he fisted his throbbing cock in one hand, preparing himself for you.</p><p>“My princess,” he panted, pulling his lip out from between his teeth. “Let me fill you, please.” His thighs tensed between your legs, spread wide for him, straining to hold himself back. A glistening bead of precum formed at his tip, but he didn’t break eye contact with you as he spread it over the blushing head of his cock with his thumb.</p><p>“My king,” you whispered, hardly able to make a sound, as hungry for him as he was for you.</p><p>Daichi released his grip between his legs and instead reached under your knees, folding your legs into your body, knees on either side of your chest. You felt him pressing forward, putting his weight first in his hands against the back of your thighs, spreading you wider in preparation. Your hole wept for him, slick and trembling from his ministrations on your chest and the sight of his impossibly thick cock. You knew he would fit inside you, but only just.</p><p>But he didn’t stop there. Daichi lifted his knees, crawling up higher on top of you and lowering his thighs down onto yours, pressing you down into the bed, perhaps the softest one you ever laid upon. With a sharp inhale, he teased his cock at your hole, the head swiping at your sensitive skin before he started to push himself inside you, inch by inch as he groaned out. You felt the delicious burn as his thickness stretched your walls, both inside and out, to accept him.</p><p>“That’s it, my princess, let me fill you,” he grunted, sweat dripping off the tip of his sloped nose and onto your chest as you whined in pleasure. He pulled out slowly before thrusting inside again, this time forcing himself inside you with a singular motion that had you clawing at the golden skin of his shoulders, mewling as his cock filled all the space inside you.</p><p>Daichi moaned as the pushing and pulling began, the dragging of his thickness creating intense friction between your legs. The sheer size of his cock splitting you in two had your head thrashing from side to side as Daichi began to lose himself, lips moving almost on their own. “You feel divine, my princess. My God, let me fill your womb, let me spill my seed inside you.” You nodded madly at his monologue, willing to be taken, to be used this way.</p><p>Daichi’s eyes rolled back in his head with a gasp. His hip bones kissed your thighs as he continued to pound himself into you. “The kingdom will always demand another heir. I’m expected to produce an heir, and I want it to be with you. I long for you to bear my children.” The words came from between clenched teeth, spoken in the heat of the moment, but the thought of carrying Daichi’s child, the future heir to the throne, pushed you to teeter on the edge of ecstasy.</p><p>His thrusts came harder and faster yet, the muscles in your thighs trembling from being spread so wide for so long. The wet squelching of his cock sliding in and out of your heat couldn’t drown out Daichi’s cries. “Princess, my princess, my princess, oh God, my queen. Please, my queen. My queen.” His words fell from his lips like a prayer, begging for salvation but not forgiveness, finally pushing you to a blinding white release. Your thighs bucked up against the strength of his legs in the mating press as your neck and back arched severely off the bed, head thrown back in a scream as you came on his thick cock.</p><p>Despite how you gasped, Daichi didn’t stop, couldn’t stop, until you were filled with his divine seed. Slick dribbled from your hole, wetting his cock even more as he slid in and out of you, pushing himself past his own limit. “My love, I love you, I love you,” you panted, reaching down to squeeze the muscles of his sturdy thighs, impossibly tight as he thrusted deep inside one last time before coating your womb with his offering, his entire body shaking until he was spent.</p><p>Daichi collapsed beside you then, lungs gasping for breath. Your hole immediately missed the stretch of his thickness inside you, and you shivered as cool air hit you for what felt like the first time in ages. You wouldn’t be cold for long, as Daichi pulled you into his chest, glistening with sweat and emanating heat. You pressed your thighs together, holding the warm cum inside that threatened to seep out, half hoping that Daichi would get his wish. Even if it wasn’t meant to be, on this night and in this place, you desired to be the mother of his child.</p><p>And for a moment, you almost forget that such an heir would be illegitimate. That no one in the kingdom, no one but you and Daichi, would know that the child belonged to him. That your child could never be ruler of Karasuno. For a moment, you almost forgot that this was not Daichi’s bedroom, but simply a trick of the eye, posing as something that could never be.</p><p>∘₊✧──────✧₊∘</p><p>You placed the basket of warm bread down in front of Daichi and unfolded the cloth, revealing the fruits of your labor that day. As the scent of fresh bread filled his senses, Daichi felt his heart beat faster, thinking only of you and your skilled baker’s hand. As you stepped back to take your place against the wall, waiting for someone’s goblet to need refilled or the bread to run out, you imagined his hands on your hips, his mouth on your neck, whispering confessions of love between sweet kisses. You were hardly paying attention to the dinner, this evening’s meal a much larger affair than usual, with many nobles and dignitaries seated around the long tables in the great hall, until the clinking of a glass announced that the king was rising to speak.</p><p>“On this, a blessed day for our kingdom, I bring news of great joy.” Daichi raised an eyebrow before looking over his shoulder, stealing only a momentary glance at you before the announcement was made.</p><p>“After Prince Daichi’s visit to Fukurodani, I corresponded with its king and we’ve come to an agreement that suits both kingdoms well. The king has offered the hand of his eldest daughter to Prince Daichi. The two will wed within the month, uniting our kingdoms and expanding the reach of our empire far beyond its long-standing bounds.”</p><p>Your stomach clenched, the water jug you held slipping through trembling fingers and shattering on the stone floor. Daichi spun around in his chair, throat dry and eyes wide with shock. He watched the other handmaidens hurry to help you clean up the mess. Tears flooded your eyes, for the broken ceramic, everyone thought. Everyone except Daichi. He had half a mind to rise and rush to you, to pull you in close and kiss your eyes, your hair, your hands, but you dared not look up to meet his eye, and the king cleared his throat and raised a goblet of wine.</p><p>“To Prince Daichi’s future reign over the kingdom!”</p><p>As the rest of the hall raised the toast, drinking to his health and prosperous matrimony, Prince Daichi felt his heart burn and crumble to ash inside his chest.</p><p>∘₊✧──────✧₊∘</p><p>The full moon hung high in the sky that night as you crept down the long stone passage without a candle, the glow from the heavens enough to light your way to the door. You hadn’t asked him to meet you, but there Daichi was waiting, head hung low, fists clenched at his side. You reached for him, wrapping your fingers around his knuckles silently before he opened his hand to accept yours. Holding the pendant in your opposite fist, you thought hard about where to take him before reaching for the iron handle and pushing the door open.</p><p>On the other side, you stepped into a gray light and a cool breeze, the smell of salt and brine washing over you so joltingly that you couldn’t believe that it was an illusion. As you stepped forward, a bed of pebbles crunched under your feet, shifting like sand but without give for you to sink into. The door shut with a heavy thump behind you, its stoic frame standing as a dark blot against the brown pebbled beach and the gray, clouded sky. Waves crashed upon the shore a short distance away, the roar of the ocean and the dull whisper of the wind wrapping tightly around your body, enveloping you in their unbreakable strength.</p><p>No, you realized. It wasn’t the embrace of the wind or the tug of the ocean. It was Daichi’s arms around you, dragging you into his body, squeezing you tighter than ever before, pulling your mind back from the heights into which it was wandering. His forehead dropped onto your shoulder and he curled into you, silent sobs wrenching from his lips as he began to cry. Numbly, you lifted your arms to encircle his waist before sinking down to the ground, your bodies slotting together like two stones in an old wall as you held each other..</p><p>As soon as he could gather himself again, Daichi spoke. “I always knew this would happen. But I didn’t expect it so soon.” He didn’t have to say what it was. You didn’t want him to, afraid that admitting it aloud would cause your world of illusion to disappear.</p><p>“What will we do?” you asked, though you knew the answer already.</p><p>Daichi couldn’t answer, fearing that there was nothing more he could give you.</p><p>∘₊✧──────✧₊∘</p><p>On the eve of Daichi’s wedding, as the princess of Fukurodani slept in another tower of the castle that she would be lady of in the morning, you rose from your bed at nightfall. The crescent moon revealed itself above the trees at the crest of the hills of Karasuno outside your window. Silently, you followed the well-worn path from your quarters to the darkened hallway, moving like a ghost cursed to haunt the halls of a life once lived.</p><p>Your heart, one moment twisted in pain and the next dull and numb in mourning, beat in your ears, anticipation brewing in your bones. You reached the wood and iron door first, and standing there in your nightgown, facing the long hallway lined with doors, you touched the pedant around your neck, your mind made up.</p><p>Daichi appeared, footsteps falling heavy against stone. He was being too loud, you thought, glancing over your shoulder to make sure no one was there. When he reached you, he immediately pulled you in by the shoulders for a passionate kiss, mouth seeking yours with an urgency and heat usually reserved for behind closed doors. When Daichi released you, you pulled the pendant up over your head and pressed it into his hand before he could protest. “By this time tomorrow, you’ll be sharing your wedding bed with someone else. Please.”</p><p>A solemn look in his eyes, Daichi slowly placed the pendant around his own neck and took your hand. With one deep breath, he reached for the door, pulling you alongside him as he lifted the iron handle. You followed, and with a flash of light, you stood on a green hillside at sunrise, grass under your bare feet, your simple nightgown replaced with a gauzy white dress of Daichi’s creation. You looked up at him and were surprised to find him dressed not in robes or even his horse riding clothes, but in a simple white tunic and pants, the wind tousling the fabric.</p><p>He held both your hands as you gazed out behind him, the breathtaking view of a pastoral countryside dotted with stone fences and thatched roof cottages. Everything around you felt calm, including the look in Daichi’s eyes. “Why here?” you asked.</p><p>“Because,” he replied, “in a place like this, I’m not a prince and you’re not a servant. I’m just Daichi, and you’re just you.”</p><p>Tears welled in your eyes as he reached up to stroke your cheek. Perhaps it was for the last time, you thought with a twinge in your chest, but his lips fluttered lightly over yours, pulling your eyes up to meet him when he released the kiss. His hands found your face, and you waited for the final goodbye.</p><p>But you found forever in his eyes. Daichi tucked the pendant into his shirt and offered you his hand. You took it and began to walk alongside him, over the rolling hill, toward where the sun was peeking over the horizon. He squeezed your hand in an unspoken promise. He’d leave everything behind—the wedding, the kingdom, everything—to stay here with you. He would wander these pastures by your side for the rest of his days, hand in hand. Maybe this world was merely a fantasy, but it was the place you could be together. It was real as long as you were together.</p><p>∘₊✧──────✧₊∘</p>
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